Affinity is a private capital CRM built for VC and PE dealmakers — it scores the relationships you already have. Via is a pathfinding layer for B2B sales teams that surfaces routes to people you haven't met yet, without replacing your CRM. Different questions, different tools.
Affinity is explicitly positioned as a private capital CRM — their own product site describes it as "a private capital CRM that helps private equity and VC firms source deals." Via is built for B2B revenue teams running outbound. Here's what each actually does.
| Capability | Via | Affinity |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's built for | ||
| Primary ICP | ✓B2B revenue teams doing outbound | ✓VC, PE, investment banks, family offices |
| Built for sales teams | ✓Yes — core use case | —"Sales management vs. deal management" |
| Stack fit | ✓Layers on your existing CRM | —Replaces your CRM |
| Warm access & pathfinding | ||
| See your team's full collective network | ✓Full orbit mapped | ✓Firm-wide email/calendar graph |
| Second-degree warm path discovery | ✓Multi-degree with context | ✓2 degrees, limited to email/calendar |
| Paths through advisors, investors, customers, board | ✓Extended orbit mapped | ~Only if they're in the firm's inbox |
| Paths through people who aren't on the platform | ✓Surfaces without opt-in | —Requires email/calendar access |
| Rank paths by relationship strength | ✓Ranked with context | ✓Frequency + recency scoring |
| Target-first workflow | ✓"Who can get me in front of X?" | ~Search-first, browse-heavy |
| Platform & workflow | ||
| Deployment model | ✓Stack-additive, no migration | —CRM replacement |
| Deal pipeline management | —Not the play | ✓Full CRM |
| Works out of the box without syncing data | ✓Value from day one on work history alone | —Requires email/calendar access to function |
| Email & calendar as optional pathfinding signals | ✓Connect Gmail/Outlook to sharpen paths | ✓Core data source |
| Data enrichment | —Integrates with your enrichment stack | ✓40+ sources |
| MCP / LLM integration | ✓Via MCP | ✓Affinity MCP |
| Time to value | ✓Day one | —Weeks of onboarding & migration |
| Pricing | ||
| Starting price | ✓Free tier | —Thousands per seat, per year |
Affinity is a great CRM for dealmakers. It's not built to find you a warm path to a buyer you haven't met. Via is.
Affinity scores the relationships you already have based on email and calendar history. Via finds paths to people you haven't talked to yet — the question that matters when you're trying to break into a new account.
Affinity IS the CRM — adopting it means ripping out Salesforce or HubSpot and moving your pipeline. Via layers on top of whatever you already use. Zero migration, zero change management, value on day one.
Affinity's graph only works once everyone on your team connects their inbox and calendar — a long onboarding lift and a real privacy conversation. Via works from day one on shared work and education history alone, and gets sharper when teams do connect Gmail, Outlook, or their CRM. You don't have to give up anything to get the first warm path.
Affinity's own blog distinguishes "sales management vs. deal management" and positions the product toward the latter. If you're running B2B outbound and need relationship intelligence that fits your motion — not a VC dealflow tool — Via is built for you.